Protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment: how RFLD puts survivors first across its network

Every organisation that works alongside communities carries a duty to do no harm. RFLD works with women human rights defenders, grassroots women’s organisations and Vulnerable Groups in more than 35 African countries to advance gender equality and inclusion. Many of the women and girls we serve already face a high exposure to violence. That is why protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH) sits at the centre of how RFLD works, and why we hold our partners to the same standard we hold ourselves.

This article sets out what PSEAH means, what our own research has found in West Africa, how RFLD’s policy works in practice, and what we discussed with institutions and partners during our October 2026 missions in Dakar and Abuja. It ends with the international standards our approach follows and the ways anyone can raise a concern.

What we mean by PSEAH

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Bulletin of 2003 (ST/SGB/2003/13) gives the official definitions most organisations use today, quoted here as written. Sexual exploitation is any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power or trust for sexual purposes, including profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another person. Sexual abuse is the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.

Sexual harassment completes the picture. It covers unwelcome sexual conduct in the workplace and in programme settings, and it is addressed in the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190). RFLD’s policy brings the three forms of harm together in one framework, because survivors rarely experience them as separate categories.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Six Core Principles translate these definitions into rules of conduct. Sexual exploitation and abuse are gross misconduct and grounds for dismissal. Sexual activity with anyone under 18 is prohibited, whatever the local age of consent. Exchanging assistance, employment or any other benefit for sex is prohibited. Sexual relationships that rest on an improper use of rank or position are prohibited. Anyone who has concerns must report them, and managers at every level carry a particular duty to build an environment that prevents abuse.

What RFLD’s research found in West Africa

In February 2025 RFLD published a case study on sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in West Africa. It drew on research and engagement with local organisations in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Benin, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire. The patterns it describes are a reminder that SEAH thrives wherever gender inequality and exclusion go unchallenged.

In schools, female students described teachers who used extra tuition or grades as leverage, and reporting systems that did not protect them. In workplaces such as agriculture and mining, women described supervisors who linked sexual demands to production targets and to keeping a job. In humanitarian settings, the study recorded cases where access to food or shelter was made conditional on sex. In rural communities, stigma and family pressure kept survivors silent.

The common thread is gender inequality. When a woman or a girl depends on someone else for a mark or a job, saying no becomes risky. The study concluded that effective reporting mechanisms, workplace policies and community engagement are needed together. It also found that many survivors stay silent because they fear retaliation or disbelief.

International data points in the same direction. In 2023 the United Nations recorded 374 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving implementing partners, more than the 284 allegations recorded for UN agencies, funds and programmes in the same year (UN document A/78/819). Implementing partners are the organisations closest to communities. For an intermediary like RFLD, which re-grants to women-led organisations across the continent, that finding defines the job. Safeguarding has to reach the last grantee.

RFLD’s standard: zero tolerance, written down and enforceable

RFLD’s Safeguarding and PSEAH Policy (version 1.0, May 2026) was approved by the Board of Directors and is published on our Governance Policies page. It applies to every staff member, volunteer, consultant, Board member, partner, sub-grantee and supplier acting for RFLD, in every country.

Zero tolerance in this policy has a precise meaning. There are no exceptions based on seniority, length of service, cultural context or operational pressure. Any substantiated violation leads to termination of employment or engagement, and to referral to the relevant authorities where the evidence supports it. Every person who witnesses, suspects or learns of a violation has a personal obligation to report it. Failing to report a known or reasonably suspected concern is itself a disciplinary offence.

Oversight sits outside the ordinary line of management. An independent Ethics Committee handles integrity, safeguarding and whistleblower matters, and a confidential, retaliation-free reporting channel is open to staff, partners and community members alike. Safeguarding risk is a mandatory category in RFLD’s organisational risk register.

The policy is conflict-sensitive and do-no-harm by design. It applies a feminist and intersectional lens, so that women and girls with disabilities, rural women, young women and other Vulnerable Groups can report safely and receive support adapted to their situation. Gender equality and inclusion are part of how every safeguarding decision is made.

Putting survivors first

The policy’s survivor-centred framework puts the survivor’s safety, dignity, autonomy and wellbeing ahead of RFLD’s reputation, programme continuity and the career of the person accused. It also respects the survivor’s agency. When a survivor does not want a formal process, RFLD follows that wish as far as possible and is transparent about the limits, for example when other people remain at risk.

The first 24 hours follow a fixed sequence. The person receiving the report secures the survivor’s physical safety, contacting national emergency services first if there is immediate danger. The Safeguarding Focal Point listens without judgment and connects the survivor to medical care, psychological support, legal advice or safe housing as needed. For any report of sexual exploitation or abuse involving a beneficiary or a child, the Focal Point notifies the Ethics Committee and the Executive Director within four hours. The incident is logged on a standard form within 24 hours and given a case reference.

Investigations above minor workplace cases are normally led by an external investigator with PSEAH training, reporting to the Ethics Committee. Investigators must use trauma-informed interviewing. Records are stored under RFLD’s data protection rules and survivor identities are pseudonymised.

The same rules for partners and sub-grantees

RFLD re-grants to women-led organisations, so its do-no-harm and safeguarding standard travels with each grant. In 2026 RFLD awarded 27 grants worth US$722,100 in four months. Between June and September 2026, this included nine SEA-T sub-grants totalling €160,000 for women-led organisations in francophone West Africa, managed under a contract with GIZ on behalf of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Every partner, sub-grantee and supplier in contact with communities must meet baseline requirements written into its agreement. These include a safeguarding policy or a written commitment to RFLD’s standards, a designated Safeguarding Focal Point, a PSEAH clause in its own staff contracts, evidence of training, and the reporting of any incident linked to RFLD-funded activities within 24 hours.

Requirements rise with the size of the grant and the level of contact with communities. A small engagement with no direct contact requires a signed Code of Conduct and a self-declaration. Larger grants with direct contact add a partner self-assessment questionnaire, a verification of the Focal Point’s training, an annual safeguarding field visit and a mid-term review. The largest engagements require a full institutional PSEAH audit. The same logic applies to Yéego Jigéen, RFLD’s new grants programme for grassroots women’s organisations in Senegal, where every grant agreement contains clear safeguarding and PSEA rules.

Systems that small organisations can actually use

A policy only protects people when the organisation has the tools to apply it. Many grassroots organisations hold safeguarding information in notebooks or shared phones. Through its Organizational Resilience Program, RFLD gives partner organisations the RFLD Management Suite, which includes a confidential safeguarding and complaints register, encrypted with AES-256 and locked behind a second PIN. Organisations keep their own records under their own control and can show a funder that a confidential system exists.

Training follows the same practical approach. New RFLD staff and volunteers complete a safeguarding induction within two weeks of starting, before any activity that involves contact with communities. Existing staff complete an annual refresher by 28 February each year. Safeguarding Focal Points receive advanced training on trauma-informed investigation, child protection protocols and national referral systems. Partners with grants above the entry tier receive training at the start of the partnership and every year after that.

Safeguarding information about defenders

Women human rights defenders face a particular form of exposure. The information that documents an attack can itself put a defender at risk if it leaks. On 10 October 2026, during the 89th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, RFLD held a closed session in Dakar on data protection and safeguarding under NAFASI, a programme funded by Sweden through Sida and implemented by Magamba Network, DefendDefenders and RFLD.

Each participating organisation left with a threat-assessment matrix built from its own working context, rating risks for likelihood and impact with a mitigation step and a named person responsible. The group adopted a first quarterly GESI dashboard, published only in aggregated and anonymous form. The principle is simple: data that protects survivors and defenders must never be the data that exposes them.

What October 2026 in Dakar and Abuja taught us

Protection depends on institutions that respond. During the 89th Session, RFLD and Benin’s Institut National de la Femme (INF) were received by Senegal’s Minister of Justice to discuss women’s access to justice. The delegation also met the Ministry of Family, Social Action and Solidarity, where the discussion focused on case follow-up and support for survivors, and visited the Association des Juristes Sénégalaises to learn how its law shops and community paralegals accompany women through the justice system.

At the RFLD and INF side event, speakers linked the protection of survivors to the protection of the people who defend them. On 14 October, Konstanze Ricken, Programme Director of SEA-T at GIZ, visited RFLD’s Dakar office. The team presented the results of SEA-T support in francophone West Africa, from training and safety support to sub-grants for grassroots groups.

Technology-facilitated violence was a constant theme. At the Expertise France dialogue in Dakar, panellists discussed survivor support and the continuum between online and offline violence. On 15 October, RFLD and the Vance Center co-organised a side event towards an African regional framework against technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Earlier in the month, RFLD took part in the WLICT national consultation on the same subject in Abuja.

These exchanges confirmed what our partners tell us. Survivors need a referral pathway that works across health, legal and social services, and reporting channels that are safe for the person reporting, online and offline. Funders and intermediaries also have to resource safeguarding inside the organisations closest to communities, because that is where the risk is highest and where protection starts.

Aligned with international and African standards

RFLD’s policy is built on recognised frameworks, and section 18 of the policy maps each of them:

• The IASC Six Core Principles relating to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse form the backbone of the policy.
• The UN Secretary-General’s Bulletin ST/SGB/2003/13 provides the core definitions.
• The OECD DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance (adopted 12 July 2019) shapes our survivor-centred approach, partner accountability and safe recruitment.
• The UN Protocol on Allegations of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Involving Implementing Partners (2018) informs how we assess and monitor partners.
• The Keeping Children Safe international standards guide safe recruitment, safe programming and child-specific investigation protocols.
• Sida’s safeguarding requirements, and the PSEAH commitments attached to the GIZ/BMZ SEA-T programme, are written into our procedures.
• The Maputo Protocol, in particular Articles 3 and 4 on dignity and on the rights to life, integrity and security of the person, and CEDAW General Recommendation No. 35 on gender-based violence against women ground our feminist and intersectional approach.

How to raise a concern

Anyone can raise a safeguarding concern about RFLD, a member of our staff or one of our partners, confidentially and, where possible, anonymously. Write to integrity@rflgd.org or use the confidential reporting channel on our Get Support page. If someone is in immediate physical danger, contact national emergency services first.

Funders and partners who want to see how RFLD manages safeguarding can read our policy library on the Governance Policies page, or contact our programmes team at programs@rflgd.org. Organisations that need help to set up their own safeguarding system can apply to the Organizational Resilience Program.

Protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment is never finished. It depends on people who speak up and on leaders who act when they do. RFLD will keep publishing what it learns, so that every woman and girl who meets our network can trust it.

References

1. United Nations Secretary-General (2003). Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, ST/SGB/2003/13. digitallibrary.un.org
2. Inter-Agency Standing Committee (2019). IASC Six Core Principles relating to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. interagencystandingcommittee.org
3. OECD (2019). DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance, OECD/LEGAL/5020, adopted 12 July 2019. library.alnap.org
4. United Nations (2018). United Nations Protocol on Allegations of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Involving Implementing Partners. www.un.org
5. United Nations General Assembly (2024). Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse: report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, A/78/819. digitallibrary.un.org
6. International Labour Organization (2019). Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190). normlex.ilo.org
7. African Union (2003). Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol). au.int
8. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (2017). General Recommendation No. 35 on gender-based violence against women, CEDAW/C/GC/35. undocs.org
9. Keeping Children Safe. International Child Safeguarding Standards. www.keepingchildrensafe.global
10. RFLD (2026). Safeguarding and PSEAH Policy, version 1.0, RFLD-POL-SFG-v1.0. rflgd.org
11. RFLD (2025). Findings on Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment in West Africa: A Comprehensive Case Study. rflgd.org
12. RFLD (2026). From stories to evidence: what RFLD’s Gender Mainstreaming Tool session in Dakar produced. rflgd.org